Man with rifle fatally shot after calling deputies for help

CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio – An Ohio sheriff says a man called a crisis line for help in the middle of the night and was fatally shot after confronting responding deputies with a rifle.

Pickaway County Sheriff Robert Radcliff tells The Columbus Dispatch (http://bit.ly/2aCHzv9) it doesn't appear the man fired during the Tuesday morning encounter outside a home northwest of Circleville. His name wasn't immediately released.

Radcliff says the two veteran deputies who were on duty took cover when they encountered the man with the rifle and called for backup from neighboring Madison County. Before those officers could arrive, deputies at the home radioed that shots were fired. Why remains unclear.

Radcliff says the Franklin County sheriff's office will investigate what happened.